Aftermath
by Philately-fun
Summary: Set after PWF... GS Fuzz.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer : These aren't mine…. They don't belong to me…. I don't claim to own them. 

The explosion had obviously shaken more than the lab, Grissom thought. It was almost surreal, that conversation he'd had with Sara.

He knew that it was just the shock of the day talking, and that she would come in tomorrow and tell him to forget it had ever happened. The rational half of him hoped that, anyway. The other half, though he dismissed it, wanted her to ask him again, so he could say yes.

She had a spark in her that he had never seen before, in anyone, and it took his breath away. He had seen it in her the first time their eyes met, and she'd given him that Sidle grin.

But he could never allow himself to say yes. There were so many reasons, though not one had anything to do with him not liking her. He was her boss, had been her lecturer. He was older than her.

There.

That was the one reason that he came back to every time. That was the mantra he relied on to stop himself.

Now, sitting in his car riding home, he found it wasn't as effective as it used to be.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Nick pulled up outside Sara's apartment, and shut off the engine. Turning to look at Sara, who had sat in silence for the whole journey, he realised that she hadn't even registered the car wasn't moving anymore.

"Sara?" He gently placed his hand on her arm.

She jumped, and looked at him quizzically. "What?"

He chuckled. "We're here."

"Hm?" She looked out the window and realised where she was. "Oh. Thanks. My turn tomorrow?"

"Yep. Hey, Sara, You ok?" He tried to keep the concern out of his voice, because he knew that Sara would give him hell for even asking.

"For the hundredth, and last time, I'm fine." She scowled at him, and he backed off. "You fancy a beer?" She added, after she felt she had given him sufficient Evil-Eye.

He sighed. "Yeah. Beer would be great. I'll just park the car."

"'k then." She opened the door and climbed out, and Nick drove around the corner to the parking lot.

Once the car was parked, he pulled out his cell and punched in a number.

"Hey, Nadia? It's Nick. I'm gonna have to pass on our breakfast date, hon. Yeah; we'll have to do it some other time. Sorry. Yeah, there was an emergency at work. Well, gotta run. Bye, babe."

He snapped the phone shut, and sighed. She was only a girl, he told himself. Sara was his best friend.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Grissom parked his SUV in the driveway of his town house, and just sat in it for a moment. Then, silently, He rested his head on the steering wheel, in pure frustration. What wasn't so silent was the blaring horn that erupted from the car. He threw himself backwards and into the leather upholstery of the driver's seat, and the noise of the horn stopped, but the echo that rang in his ears took a few minutes to subside.

He sighed a long and laboured sigh. Tonight's shift was going to be very… Interesting.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sara cracked open a beer and passed it to Nick, then did one for herself. Taking a long sip, she sat down at her dining table across from him. 

"I needed that."

Nick smiled. "Hungry?" 

Sara nodded "A little."

"Pizza?" 

"For breakfast? You serious? Where are you gonna find a place that delivers at-" She checked her watch "- Nine am?"

"This is Vegas, Baby!"

Sara just smiled and shook her head. "Yeah, whatever. Pizza'll do. Cheese and pineapple for me."

"Excellent!" With that, Nick jumped up and set about ordering Pizza, whilst Sara drained her bottle and fished another out of the fridge. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"So, did Cath find out what caused the explosion?"

Nick shifted uneasily. "Uh, yeah. She did."

Sara swigged from her beer, and took a bite of Pizza. "Good. What was it?"

"No, Sara. She caused it. Un-logged evidence or something under the fume cupboard." 

Sara almost dropped her beer. "But… We always put un-logged evidence under there…"

"The hot-plate was left on, and Cath forgot to check. It was an accident, totally. Some unidentified substance, all of a sudden-" He shrugged "-Boom. It wasn't her fault, you understand?"

"Yeah. Yeah, 'course I do." She drew heavily on her beer, emptying her fourth bottle.

"Want another?" She went to the fridge and took one out. 

"I'm good, thanks." Nick was still on his second. "Hey, don't you think you should slow down?"

"I'm a grown woman, Nick. I can handle my drink."

The glare that she bestowed on him served both as a silencer and a warning.

 He looked at her for a moment. "Ok."

She sat down again, and placed the beer on the table in front of her.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


	2. Aftermath Chapter 2

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

He tossed his jacket over the hook, and slammed the door behind him. Sighing, he took off his shoes, and padded over to his neat leather couch. He pulled his migraine pills from his pocket, swallowed a couple, and placed the bottle gingerly on the table. 

Inside his head it felt like lumpy soup, all slushy. He couldn't think straight, and the more he tried, the worse it got. Visions of Sara's face as he turned her down had the indecency to keep replaying over and over just behind his eyes. 

The pain, the shine of those unshed tears in her eyes as she looked up at him. 

Those glorious eyes. 

He covered his face and lowered his head, causing all the soup to rush forward at once. This nauseated him slightly, and he had to lie down. 

Before long, the drowsiness of the day and the migraine pills overcame him, and he fell into a deep, hazy sleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"So anyway. That's what happened. He turned me down. He hates me." She stifled a hiccup, which made Nick giggle. 

She stared at him. "Wasn't funny. He hates me."

"He doesn't hate you, Sara. He's just… well, who knows what Grissom is. But he doesn't hate you." He gently prised her glass out of her hand, half a vodka and coke still in it. She could only manage to give him a look of sadness, as he pulled it away. She had started on the spirits a half hour ago, and they weren't having that good an effect on her. She blinked slowly and deliberately, trying to clear her fuzzy vision. 

"I think maybe you're a little inebriated, Miss Sidle. Time for bed."

"I only wanted to go to dinner…"

"I know. Up you get now."

He half dragged, half lifted her onto her feet.

"He hates me." She sniffed.

"He doesn't. Which way to your bed?"

"He doesn't know what to do about me."

Nick figured it had to be one of these doors. He tried the first one. 

"Nicky, what are we doing in the closet?"

"Never mind." Ok, next door.

"Now we're in the bathroom. Sorry Nicky. I don't have to go right now. Maybe that's what Grissom wants me to do." She rambled, causing Nick to frown in confusion.

"What? Grissom wants you to pee?!"

She punched him rather hard in the shoulder. "No, Nicky. Maybe I should go. Away."

Now he understood.

"Sara, listen. Grissom is just a little confused."

Sara looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "What about, me?"

"Well, yeah. Give him a while, he'll get it."

"I hope so." She sniffed.

He tried the final door, and found a neat, ordered room with a plain, fresh bed.

"Here we are. Now, are you gonna be ok?"

"Thanks, Nicky."

"Goodnight, Sidle." He mock saluted her, and left.

She listened for the door closing behind him.

When she heard it, she sat down heavily on her bed, and burst into tears.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Grissom woke to the ringing of his cell phone. The name on the caller ID made him frown in confusion.

He flicked it open.

"Nick?"

"Sorry to disturb you, Boss… But…"

Grissom was alert. He didn't like the tone of Nick's voice. 

Rubbing his eyes, he sat up.

"What is it?"

"Normally, I'd say that this wasn't any of my business, and I'd just let the two of you figure it out on your own… However…"

"Come on, Nick. Spit it out."

"It's Sara."

Grissom's mouth went dry, and he blinked rapidly. 

"What's happened? Is she ok?"

"Nothings happened. Yet. She's upset. She talked about leaving."

"Oh god."

"Yeah. She'd had a few, but I think she might be serious."

"Where is she?"

"At her place. Maybe you should go and-"

Grissom snapped the phone shut before Nick could finish his sentence. He stood up; ignoring the head rush he got from doing so too fast, and tried to smooth out his rumpled clothes. Deciding that this was a lost cause, he changed into a fresh shirt and slacks, pulled on his shoes, and headed out the door.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

He arrived at Sara's in a time that any speedway racer would envy. And, to his credit, he only broke a couple of laws.

"Here goes nothing." Grissom muttered to himself.

He pressed the buzzer, and waited nervously for her answer. 

"Who's there?" Sara's muffled voice came to him through the intercom.

"It's Grissom." He waited for her to shout, yell, or scream at him to go away.

She did neither.

"Sara? Can you let me in? We need to talk."

"I don't want to talk." 

Could he blame her?

"Please, Sara. I just want to explain myself."

He had to wait a few agonising moments, before she answered.

"I don't want to listen."

"Can I, uh, come in?"

"No." 

"Please."

"No."

"Sara-" Just then, he felt a heavy drop of rain fall on his face. He looked up, and another fell on his forehead. 

"Sara, it's raining."

"Good." He heard the buzzer click as she left him alone on the doorstep. 

Fair enough, he thought. She wanted to punish him. Well, he was just going to have to stay there till either she forgave him, or she sobered up. Whichever came first.

The rain was getting heavier.

He would make her listen. He raised his voice.

"Sara!" There was no answer, but he figured she must be able to hear him. "Sara, I'm sorry." He stepped back, looking up at the many windows in her apartment block.

He took a deep breath, and shuddered as he felt the rain running down the back of his neck. It had reached downpour status now. 

"Nick said… Nick told me you wanted to leave." 

Grissom swallowed hard, not completely sure of what he was about to do. 

He wished he was wearing his coat; the water was soaking quickly through his lightweight shirt. 

"I came over here to tell you… I wanted you to know that…"

Still he was shouting. A few of Sara's neighbours were frowning at him from their windows. He found that he didn't care.

"I don't want you to go anywhere, Sara." He took a deep breath, hoping she could hear him. Maybe he had better shout a bit louder. 

"What I mean is… I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't see you, if I couldn't hear your voice everyday. I need you..." 

He tailed off as he saw the door open, and Sara, standing in the doorway.

"…Here." 

He finished his sentence softly; there was no longer a need to shout.

"Gris…"

"Please. Don't say anything. I need to finish. I know what I feel for you is more than I've ever felt, but I never believed there was a way it could work."

Sara's eyes fell to the floor. She found herself studying his reflection in the puddles of water.

"But tonight, tonight I realised something." He took a step towards her.

 "I realised that the fact that I love you should mean that I find a way to make it work."

Sara was staring at him now, not daring to believe her ears. She realised that her jaw was somewhere between her knees, and she snapped her mouth shut.

"I love you, Sara."

She ran out to meet him, oblivious to the elements, to everything except the arms that greeted her.


End file.
